Gale 401

User avatar
cybot
Posts: 6984
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:20 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by cybot »

Great stuff John....at least you are enjoying yourself :-)
Dowser
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:05 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by Dowser »

Looking good! Thanks for the photos, and for the Corus (hope to mount it this weekend).

Richard
Adrian
Posts: 830
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:47 am

Re: Gale 401

Post by Adrian »

Great stuff JAW,

Thanks for the effort of showing your new project.

It's great to be able to carry out a project if you have the interest the time and the space. Its much more enjoyable that way.

I'm sure your efforts will pay off with many hours of pleasurable listening. I like your "Using the Force" comment!!!

Adrian
Let the Good Times Roll...................
User avatar
cybot
Posts: 6984
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:20 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by cybot »

Adrian wrote:Great stuff JAW,

Thanks for the effort of showing your new project.

It's great to be able to carry out a project if you have the interest the time and the space. Its much more enjoyable that way.

I'm sure your efforts will pay off with many hours of pleasurable listening. I like your "Using the Force" comment!!!

Adrian
Yoda Rules ok :-))
JAW
Posts: 845
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:46 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by JAW »

Getting there with these. Got these shimmed and glued, one left to do, I didn't have enough clothes pegs!! Very nervous about shimming the first one, but it's not as difficult as I imagined. When the glue dried, the shims removed and the dust caps replaced they were all given a quick dart of a 1.5V battery and all seemed ok, so things are looking good.

Image

Image

Image

Also, these little puppies arrived today to replace the missing mid. They're not an exact fit, but fortunately they're a little larger than the original Peerless units so with a bit of luck the rebate will look natural.

Image
Gussy Finknottle
Posts: 122
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 11:34 pm
Location: Co Kerry

Re: Gale 401

Post by Gussy Finknottle »

Great thread.I actually rebuilt a pair of Celestion Ditton 66 which took me 12 months to finish and they will always sound better than any other speaker to me.Its a great moral uplift to achieve something like that.Carry on with the great work you are doing,it will all be worth it in the end
He who dies with the most expensive HiFi wins
User avatar
cybot
Posts: 6984
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:20 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by cybot »

Great stuff John! I bet they'll sound amazing when you're finished with them! Keep pegging away :-)
fergus
Posts: 10302
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:12 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by fergus »

cybot wrote:Great stuff John! I bet they'll sound amazing when you're finished with them! Keep pegging away :-)
Oh no....groan....I thought that I had weaned you away from those comments before LOL!!!
To be is to do: Socrates
To do is to be: Sartre
Do be do be do: Sinatra
User avatar
cybot
Posts: 6984
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 3:20 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by cybot »

fergus wrote:
cybot wrote:Great stuff John! I bet they'll sound amazing when you're finished with them! Keep pegging away :-)
Oh no....groan....I thought that I had weaned you away from those comments before LOL!!!
'fraid not fergus :-)
JAW
Posts: 845
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:46 pm

Re: Gale 401

Post by JAW »

Well, this started as a project for a long wet summer! Who knew? I had planned to rebuild the crossovers, bypassing the mid and treble pots, as these were supposed to be set in the factory to match pairs. Anyway, I decided today to assemble them, with the new mids, to see if they worked and how they sounded, before I did anything to the crossovers.

Here they are, waiting for the first few notes in years! (White Stripes, Elephant).

Image

Looking good with the new mid

Image

Cabinets came up well as well!

Image

So, the sixty million one, how do they sound? Well, I would say beguiling. They are certainly not as fast as modern speakers and they do have a boxy sound, however, it's all there and I'm sure when the mids burn in they'll be better. Also, the capacitors are the bones of forty years old and changing them will improve the sound. My immediate impression is that they're a little bass heavy (and that's coming from somebody with PMC FB1's). I just listened to Nick Drake Five Leaves Left and they sound good wth acoustic guitar, strings and acoustic bass. Working through Sergeant Pepper now and that's pretty good too, and then onto Disraeli Gears. I'm trying to listen to music from the period these would have been produced to get a feel for them before going onto more modern stuff.
These have a reputation for being amp eaters due to the two bass cones being wired in parallel, but so far my Meridian 556 is happy enough and not glowing red.
Actually, I'm starting to really like these!!!!!!
Last edited by JAW on Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply